CrowdLearn: Open Sourcing Learner Feedback to Enable Open-Ended Assessments in MOOCs

Open-ended assessments are crucial for robust learning especially common in upper-level university disciplines. This paper describes the iterative development of the CrowdLearn tool to enable open-ended, interactive formative and summative assessments in massive open online courses (MOOCs). The tool crowdsources learner feedback to enable assessments such as case studies, essays, and project reports. By giving learners the opportunity to discuss submissions and feedback from all other learners, the tool enables learners to learn from each other. This tool has now been implemented in eight courses hosted on the edX platform that span science, engineering, and social science.